OK. Time to vent some frustrated anger AND share some hope, however forlorn.
To wit, I'm asking y'all specifically to (1) tell us who you blame for our present predicament, chronic difficulties, or just your own personal anger and frustration, and (2) give us something you still cling to, some last sign or accomplishment that you can take from this season.
I'll go first...
(1) It should probably come as no surprise, but I BLAME Urban Meyer for, well, this whole mess we find ourselves with here now. "The Nameless One" as OC was just one of the symptoms (albeit a whopper of a "symptom", turning virtually every facet of managing our team and its future over to an incompetent, over-matched lug-head) of his whole twisted descent into confused depression, distraction and eventually, desertion in the face of realizing the hole HE had put US in--and making damn sure it was OUR problem and NOT his, once he did see it. You can bet Coach Boom sees it that way by now too: notice that not only is there no Meyer around the program in any form any longer, it pretty quickly developed that there was no longer TALK about "his help and guidance ", let alone any further discussion of "what great shape he left the program in", once the staff began to settle in and get a real look at what they had here. Not one to blame or make excuses (and stuck with so many examples of his predecessor's inattention and poor judgement), Coach Muschamp quickly just clammed up about what came before. With all the good our former Coach did here the first few years, he pretty well UNDID both the practical gains in the talent-level AND the trust and goodwill he had won in our hearts before leaving so unceremoniously. Now we know why he was so anxious to go--and why he REALLY beat it out of here the second time around. On balance, he left the program in CONSIDERABLY worse shape than he found it (ZOOK couldn't coach, but at least he left the program well-organized and well-stocked with talented players of generally high character--NEVER a priority for Urban, and without his braintrust of talented assistants, he ran this place into the GROUND); a considerable fall-from-grace, when you think about it...Hmmmm, maybe he IS the man for the PSU-job: they might very well deserve each other.
(2) My not-so-secret hope is a simple one: aside from beating Furman and getting bowl-eligible for the sake of another invaluable 5 weeks of practice and public profile (which we shouldn't and damn well better not NEED any "magic" for), the one thing I still dream of is that we can somehow pull it all together and beat the Semi-Holes in The Swamp in a couple of weeks. What more do I need to say about THAT???
One more thing--and this is sort of an "optional add-on". I DO want to note something that DOES give me cause for "hope", the other way one could go in responding to #2 here: that's the way the guys we do have left playing their hearts out there on both sides of the ball didn't quit, are NOT quitting at the end of these games (even though they ARE getting worn down and worn OUT, in the case of the defense, or are undermanned and overmatched in the first place, as in the case of the offense) AND the end of the season. Along with cleaning up the penalty-problems (not unrelated to the larger point I am making here, I think), that does bode well for next year, when a lot of them (especially on defense) will be the core, the cadre around which a whole lot of new guys will have to form up around and look to as they all find themselves "the new and better Gator team-of-the-future". Imagine what such determination and dedication on a team with all those holes FILLED might be able to accomplish
Those are my offerings, anyway. Now come on: I KNOW there are some strong feelings and opinions waiting to be vented out there. Remember, there ARE no "wrong answers" in an exercise like this. You feel how you feel, and no one has any right to argue with you about it--though we may have some reactions: I have little doubt there are those who totally disagree with MY "blame Meyer rant" (but they are wrong, of course, in THAT particular case--just kidding!) (...sort of...)
To wit, I'm asking y'all specifically to (1) tell us who you blame for our present predicament, chronic difficulties, or just your own personal anger and frustration, and (2) give us something you still cling to, some last sign or accomplishment that you can take from this season.
I'll go first...
(1) It should probably come as no surprise, but I BLAME Urban Meyer for, well, this whole mess we find ourselves with here now. "The Nameless One" as OC was just one of the symptoms (albeit a whopper of a "symptom", turning virtually every facet of managing our team and its future over to an incompetent, over-matched lug-head) of his whole twisted descent into confused depression, distraction and eventually, desertion in the face of realizing the hole HE had put US in--and making damn sure it was OUR problem and NOT his, once he did see it. You can bet Coach Boom sees it that way by now too: notice that not only is there no Meyer around the program in any form any longer, it pretty quickly developed that there was no longer TALK about "his help and guidance ", let alone any further discussion of "what great shape he left the program in", once the staff began to settle in and get a real look at what they had here. Not one to blame or make excuses (and stuck with so many examples of his predecessor's inattention and poor judgement), Coach Muschamp quickly just clammed up about what came before. With all the good our former Coach did here the first few years, he pretty well UNDID both the practical gains in the talent-level AND the trust and goodwill he had won in our hearts before leaving so unceremoniously. Now we know why he was so anxious to go--and why he REALLY beat it out of here the second time around. On balance, he left the program in CONSIDERABLY worse shape than he found it (ZOOK couldn't coach, but at least he left the program well-organized and well-stocked with talented players of generally high character--NEVER a priority for Urban, and without his braintrust of talented assistants, he ran this place into the GROUND); a considerable fall-from-grace, when you think about it...Hmmmm, maybe he IS the man for the PSU-job: they might very well deserve each other.
(2) My not-so-secret hope is a simple one: aside from beating Furman and getting bowl-eligible for the sake of another invaluable 5 weeks of practice and public profile (which we shouldn't and damn well better not NEED any "magic" for), the one thing I still dream of is that we can somehow pull it all together and beat the Semi-Holes in The Swamp in a couple of weeks. What more do I need to say about THAT???
One more thing--and this is sort of an "optional add-on". I DO want to note something that DOES give me cause for "hope", the other way one could go in responding to #2 here: that's the way the guys we do have left playing their hearts out there on both sides of the ball didn't quit, are NOT quitting at the end of these games (even though they ARE getting worn down and worn OUT, in the case of the defense, or are undermanned and overmatched in the first place, as in the case of the offense) AND the end of the season. Along with cleaning up the penalty-problems (not unrelated to the larger point I am making here, I think), that does bode well for next year, when a lot of them (especially on defense) will be the core, the cadre around which a whole lot of new guys will have to form up around and look to as they all find themselves "the new and better Gator team-of-the-future". Imagine what such determination and dedication on a team with all those holes FILLED might be able to accomplish
Those are my offerings, anyway. Now come on: I KNOW there are some strong feelings and opinions waiting to be vented out there. Remember, there ARE no "wrong answers" in an exercise like this. You feel how you feel, and no one has any right to argue with you about it--though we may have some reactions: I have little doubt there are those who totally disagree with MY "blame Meyer rant" (but they are wrong, of course, in THAT particular case--just kidding!) (...sort of...)
